"The Lost Lakes of Bangalore" is a project to document Bengaluru's many tanks and lakes which have vanished with unplanned urbanization and growth. Spearheaded by Arghyam's India Water Portal initiative, this contest had two categories of entries – general (aimed at citizens) and the student category. The contest elicited 23 student category and 15 general category entries, covering 32 lakes of the city. The awards ceremony of was held on July 3, 2010 at the TERI auditorium, Domlur.

This is the winning video of the contest in the "General" category In "Err-bane truth" ( a pun on our 'urbane' follies) Nishant Ratnakar and Badekkila Pradeep take on possibly the most strikinge of Bangalore's lost lakes - Dharmambudhi tank which is now the site of the Majestic Bus Station. Starting off on an imaginative note, the movie then traces the history of Dharmambudhi tank and the factors that lead to its demise in the mid-century. Dharmambudi Tank was built by Kempegowda, the chieftain who founded Bengaluru. A Hoysala dynasty inscription dating back to 1247AD mentions about Dodda kere. There are indications that Dodda kere was indeed Dharmambudhi Tank. Dharmambudhi Tank was so huge it spread its wings from Gandhinagar to Subedarchatram. Drawing on the knowledge of experts the movie explores more broadly the role of urban lakes, paints an ominous picture of the future and offers a ray of hope through the restoration work done in Seoul. For its overall coverage of the topic, research and high technical quality, India Water Portal is pleased to award the first prize in the General category of Rs 15,000/- to "Err-bane Truth" by Nishant Ratnakar and Badekkila Pradeep.

View Maps documented by Lost Lakes of Bangalore contest